UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMIC EFFECTS OF FLIGHT PATTERNS ON LAND USE
Abstract
In recent years, airlines have introduced a new business model, shifting to smaller regional airports in order to reduce costs, while at the same time offering convenience for air travelers. This shift, while easing demand constraints at larger airports, will increase the number of flight segments above Puget Sound altering the land uses below each new segment.
The airline industry is highly speculative, and the economic drivers associated with the airline industry are dynamic. It is projected that commercial jet traffic will increase annually between 2%-5% through 2050. The increase of jet aircraft traffic and recent residential growth are beginning to conflict. The cities of Everett, Seattle (Boeing Field) and Bremerton are interested in growing their aviation economies. This adds additional layers of complexity in land use mitigation in multiple regions without any one region requiring the consent of any bordering region.
This study will assess the land uses and property values which rest below the flight path of some of these new flight segments. The geographical focus for this study is centered in Whatcom County, Washington. BLI is one of the fastest growing airports in the United States with close proximity to the metropolitan areas of Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, Canada.
It is the researcher’s hypothesis that land use impact outside of airport boundaries is insufficiently accounted for in current use-models and will propose an expanded model to account for this.